Writing a Percy Jackson Fanfic
by Achieving Elysium
Summary: Suck at summaries? Problems with grammar? Need help? A guide to writing a Percy Jackson fanfiction, whether this is your first or not. Information on grammar, writing, characters, and more that I have obtained over the years.
1. The Seven Plots of the World

**I'm Achieving Elysium. This guide is here for you. For the fandom.**

**I'm no GuRu, but I am here to help you improve your writing.**

**This is dedicated to the fandom.**

**Let's begin with**

**The Seven Plots of the World**

I'm sure we can all agree in some fanfics, the plot may seem very original.

It's not.

In a way, you can take a plot and twist it and turn it, and it'll be a great story. That's what authors do, whether they know it or not.

Really, though, there are only about 7 plots.

And bajillions of books, though bajillions is not a word.

So how do you do it, you might ask?

What seven plots are there?

Well, here we go.

1. Rags to Riches

Ah, the old classics. This is one of the most used plots.

We call it Rags to Riches.

Rags to Riches is quite simple. Think Cinderella.

Our main character, whoever she or he may be, starts out at the bottom of a totem pole, so to speak. It could be the bottom of a social life, or money-wise, or whatever. It just starts at the bottom.

And slowly, slowly, our character climbs to the top.

Yes!

Just like dear old Cinderella went from house-servant, or whatever you'd like to call her, to a beautiful princess.

They end up at the top.

2. Boy Meets Girl/Girl Meets Boy

Every now and then, we enjoy a nice little love story, don't we? Like Aphrodite would probably say,"There is never a time where love is not needed."

Boy Meets Girl/Girl Meets Boy is quite simple. Theres only 3 steps you need to think about.

1. Create a couple. They could begin lovers, or they could begin two people who can't stand each other.

2. Not every relationship is perfect. Throw a wrench in it every now and then.

3. Also, think about the reader. Couples don't make out every 2 seconds.

You need to be reasonable. The reader should go through the pain your couple goes through.

At least, emotionally. You don't want your reader to be, I don't know, hit by a car, do you?

3. Coming of Age

This one is probably my favorite next to Fall of the Corrupt and Making of a Hero.

Coming of Age is very similar to Rags to Riches and Making of a Hero- sort of.

Coming of Age can be a child going through the mental and physical phase of child to adult.

OR

It can also be emotionally; mentally. A character transforms through hardships.

The best example of this, and I'm sure you all know it, is Harry Potter. Harry is a great example of both child to adult and going through a transformation. Harry, at first, is young. He's scared. He's just been thrown into a world he never knew existed. He's been told he's supposed to defeat this guy he's never heard of. As he meets new friends, and goes through obstacles, he transforms. He goes through that phase of a child becoming an adult. He becomes more experienced and his young boy self is gone, replaced by a true hero.

4. Fall of the Corrupt

This one I won't talk much about. It's as the name states.

There's a bad guy.

There's a good guy.

Or girls. Don't forget the girls.

And then, the good guy has the bad guy brought to justice.

And we're all happy.

Just like the Hunger Games. Snow and the Hunger Games itself are the bad guys. Katniss and the rebels are the good guys. (In Katniss' case, good girl.) Katniss wins THG and QQ and they all defeat the Capitol. Pretty easy.

5. Making of a Hero

Probably my favorite of all time, Making of a Hero.

The main character may start out powerless, hesitant, doubtful. As they go on and get stronger, they gain confidence. Friends. Love, even. And in the end, they save the day.

The perfect example is our very own Percy.

He doubts he's a true son of Poseidon, monsters try to kill him every few days, and his mom is assumed dead. Not a great start. But he meets people like him. They understand. He meets his friends. Annabeth, Grover, Thalia, Nico, Bianca, Silena, Beckendorf, Connor and Travis, Luke (ish), etc etc. Tyson, Ella, Jason, Frank, Hazel, Piper, Leo. Reyna, to an extent. In the end of PJATO, he saves the day with Luke.

6. No Place Like Home

Sometimes, we become sick of it. We become sick of our little towns, our little homes, our daily, ordinary lives. Sometimes, all you really want to do is pack your bags and jump on a plane, or boat, or car, or vehicle and go through an adventure.

And that's how it goes.

Our character, say, Dorothy, wants to leave Kansas. And she does. Boy, does she ever! And after a long, hard adventure, our character realizes,well, there's no place like home.

7. Salvation

The last one. Salvation. In Salvation, there are usually 2 or more characters. One person is damaged. Maybe he/she came from a war. Maybe they have been abused. However they are damaged, they must be saved. They need to be fixed, or they will cry and scream until they cannot anymore. But someone comes along and saves them. Someone sweeps them up, helps them heal, whether it be a nurse or a billionaire.

Someone is saved, and someone is saving.

All in all, remember, there are 7 plots.

Rags to Riches, Boy Meets Girl, Coming of Age, Fall of the Corrupt, Making of a Hero, No Place Like Home, and Salvation.

Take one of those plots, and create a story.

_Achieving Elysium_


	2. The Cupcake That Is Your Story

Wow, thanks. I've had great reviews and great people come along.

This idea has been in my head for a very, very long time. I'm serious. Every day, I find myself talking to myself about OCs, plots, Mary-Sues, little things that most people don't notice. I'm glad to be sharing my knowledge, and hopefully, it'll help you.

**The Cupcake That Is Your Story**

So this is actually my idea. I thought of it, unsurprisingly, while thinking of PJO. Rick, you've ruined my life. The cupcake that is your story hit me when I was thinking of how to present a story to you. How to make my chapter fun and interesting while getting the message across. So here it is, after 30 minutes of thinking, The Cupcake.

Now, when you have a cupcake, what's the first thing? Your wrapper.

Now, I'm betting each and every one of you will tell me,"But I don't eat the wrapper? What's the use of it?"

And I reply,"Well, a wrapper is a foundation."

What I mean is, when you're making a cupcake, you're not going to plop batter into the cup, are you? You put the wrapper first.

In our case, the wrapper is your title and summary. If you have a crumbly wrapper, sure, you've got a cupcake, but it doesn't look as good. If you have a sturdy wrapper, it'll turn out better. Same with your title and summary. Keep in mind, it has to be eye-catching. If you're walking through a bakery... That one's boring, that one's boring, wow, that one's bright and exciting!

Next, the cake. And I know some of you are reading this, and you're asking me, "Is it Dauntless cake?"

Well, I'll ask you,"_Is _it Dauntless cake?"

For those of you who have not read Divergent and who haven't spent nights dreaming about sitting Uriah's lap eating chunks of Dauntless cake, you're missing out.

Read Divergent. It's good.

Basically in Divergent, Dauntless cake is this amazing cake that you can't help but love because it's so good.

What I mean when I ask you the same question, is,"This is your story. You make the cake."

YOU control the story. Not me, YOU. I can influence you. I can do whatever I want, but it's still your story. So when you're writing, don't ask,"Readers, do you want blah blah blah?"

Writer, do _you _want blah blah blah?

Sure, it's great to get input, but just follow what you want. If they don't like it, they shouldn't have to read it.

The cake is your plot. Your characters. Your main stuff. (In our case, Rick's characters. Don't forget to disclaim PJO) If you want the cake to be blue (_Yes, Percy, we're talking to you. ) _it can be blue! What's stopping the cake from being blue?

Then the cream. What's a cupcake without whipped cream?

Oh wait, it's just a muffin. Right. I knew that.

The cream is the rest of it. Your grammar. Your format. Percabeth feels. Feels. Your stuff that binds it all together.

And then there's the sprinkles.

Sprinkles are always optional. In my opinion, sprinkles make a cupcake better.

The "sprinkles" are really your wording. How you lay it down.

You can have vivid verbs, exciting adjectives, and amazing nouns.

Or you can use plain words like like, was, is, am, walk, talk, etc.

I'm not asking you to go,"Sally zoomed down the street as fast as a speeding rocket. The suited men bellowed after her..."

That's overdosing it with sprinkles.

"Sally ran down the street as fast as a rocket. The men chased after her, yelling as they went."

That's better.

Sprinkles are optional.

Put too much, it's over-doing it.

Leave them out, it's still a great cupcake.

But fit them in right, and it's one great cupcake.

Don't forget: wrapper, cake, cream, sprinkles!

Remember, use the seven plots of the world in your cake!

See you soon,

_Achieving Elysium_


	3. Practice, Junk-Write, & Publish

**Chapter Three**

**Practice, Junk-Write, and Publish (And the Fine Lines Between)**

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**Achieving Elysium**

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Gods, I am so mad. You have _no idea _how mad I am. Why? I had written a whole 3/4 of a chapter, for a whole hour, and whoop de doo, it crashes. And I lost my work. Okay, onto the subject. Again.

The first step to writing is to practice. By practice, I don't mean just doing school assignments and publishing stuff on FanFiction. I actually mean practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. I _know _you've probably heard that word a billion time, (so have I) so it doesn't hurt to hear it a billion and four times. Probably more. What I mean by practice, is just write. It doesn't have to be on any certain subject, like Percy Jackson, and it doesn't have to be fan writing. All you need to do is write. It can even be something as small as a paragraph. It can't be a sentence; that is not practicing. Sometimes it doesn't take more than ten to twenty minutes a week for a good practice. It doesn't have to be on paper, either, 30% of my time, I sit in a car or seat (somewhere boring with extra time and no electronics) , and I stare at the wall and write in my head. I usually forget it at the mention of more exciting things, (food) but I've at least managed to write something. I've managed to practice. Of course, you can't write in your head _all _the time. You have to put something down. You're more prone to forgetting, even though it's practice. It's good to be able to look back. As I said before, it won't take much time. Today in math class, for about thirty minutes or so, I wrote three short paragraphs about just whatever popped in my head. I drew a picture of a monster and I wrote a bit on it. I wrote on the prompt _The End of the World. _I also wrote a little something on Hershey's Kisses, because I wanted chocolate. I'll share _The End of the World _with you today, as an example. Ugh, I have to re-type because my browser crashed. I really need a better computer.

The End of the World

The earth groaned in protest as the asteroid scientists called Apophis slammed into it. Jocelyn screamed. A violent shaking rippled through the world. Near her, a building crashed down, sending clouds of dust and debris into the air. She coughed. Her eyes stung, but she latched onto the seemingly steady ground. Suddenly, the world tilted, and Lyn scrambled to find a hold before she could drop into a dark abyss. Her searching fingers found a crack to hold onto, and Lyn screamed in terror as her legs kicked at air. Something heavy hit her, and she cried out again in pain. Her arms screamed with the effort, and she couldn't hold on anymore. As she fell, she thought, _This is it. This is the end of the world. _

There y'all go. My eleven sentence paragraph. Eleven sentences! The Hershey Kiss one is only five sentences. It's not that much! A little practice goes a long way.

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Part two: How to write a good fanfiction.

Just kidding. Part two is about the fine line between what I call 'junk writing' and 'publish writing.' There's a big difference. Junk writing is writing stuff you aren't going to publish. Ever. Sometimes you might, but it usually has to be cleaned up and fixed. Publish writing is when you write to publish. No, I don't like that. Okay, let's try that again. Publish writing is when you:

a. Write out the whole thing.

b. Edit and add things. To most people, know as Revising & Editing.

c. Correct all grammatical, spelling, and writing mistakes.

d. Look over it.

e. Publish it. That sounded bad. You aren't a professional writer, right? So (e) should be... Allow people to read it.

Yeah...not a lot of people do that. Most people have betas to advise them and correct mistakes, but it's better to make sure. I, personally, am not a beta (why I'm writing this, which means I don't have to beta) and I, personally, do not have a beta. I wouldn't make a very good beta, either, because in many of my fanfictions, if you look hard, you'll see grammatical errors and some minor spelling mistakes. My WordPad (I don't have Word :( ) doesn't do spell check. It's horrifying.

Speaking of spell check, if you don't want to re-read it over again, or if you're afraid you'll miss something, there is a SPELL-CHECK box for a reason.

Take advantage of it.

Okay, so there is a difference between junkin' and publishing. Junkin' is not a word, so just warning you, please don't go around saying,"I'm junkin' my writing." I do think there is slang like that,"I'm junking your house." But on paper, no. Don't write junking. What happens when you use Junk and Publish (meaning you take the junk and you publish) is your quality has dropped. Dropped. Dropped. Gone to below zero. That was a metaphor, (ish) okay? You really don't want to freeze your readers' butts off like my science teacher's classroom does. Let me dig a little deeper. When you junk write, it's sort-of like practice, I guess. It'll be too short, or too undeveloped, or something that will tell you," Don't publish me!" If your work is junk, it's practice, and you don't publish practice.

Got it?

Remember: Seven Plots, the Cupcake, and Practice, Junk Write, & Publish

See you next time!

_Achieving Elysium _


	4. Mary Sue's, Gary Stu's, OCs, & Bug Spray

******If you guys are doubting, or if you have any problems or questions, or you want me to check out your story and tell you the truth, and not lies, then feel free to leave a message in the reviews below, or PM me!**

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**Chapter Four**

**Mary Sue's, Gary Stu's, OC's, and Bug Spray**

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**Achieving Elysium**

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Everyone, duck and cover! It's a Mary-Sue!

Before we begin, I will make sure everyone knows what these terms mean. A Mary-Sue is a character (girl) who is very perfect. She is perfect in looks, personality, and physically. A Gary Stu is the same, only he is describing boys. Those two characters are flawless. Absolutely flawless. Now, an OC stands for Original Character. The term is used for purely fanfictions, when authors create a character.

I can never stress this enough.

**BE CAREFUL WITH AN OC**

Okay, you've heard me, loud and clear, right? OC's can be amazing, but most just go _plop _down the drain. Why? Because the OC is a Mary-Sue or Gary Stu. For this chapter, I will refer to Mary Sue and not Gary Stu, as characters would be more commonly described as Mary Sue's.

Let me tell you why you really, really shouldn't use your OC. It's fairly simple. Go to the top of the PJO archives and click on Character (A). Then, look at all those characters. Look at them! If you have all those characters to choose from, to write about, then why are you just creating another character? That is why OC authors/writings irk me. I'm not saying I hate you. I'm not saying that you should go jump off a cliff and be awesome like Ryan Higa. (Though that would be awesome) I'm simply saying that when I read, my eyes skip over new characters. Of course, I don't mean minor characters (ex: mortal, McDonald's drive-through person, minor camper, etc.) You always need to come up with minor characters! I just don't like the cliche: Hi, I'm a demigod. My name is _. Last year, the Chimera came to my school. Suddenly, I'm saved by _ and I found out my dad/mom is _. When I got to camp, I was sent on a quest to do _.

It gets really annoying. And besides, quests come rarely. Annabeth herself, one of the most senior campers, didn't get her own quest until six years after she came to camp! Most campers just stay safe, train, survive, and fight against evil. And no offense, the prophecies suck.

Back to our lovely topic.

I'm going to come up with a sort-of 'bug spray' to keep away the Mary Sue's.

**Bug Spray**

Step one: Identifying Your OC-Mary Sue or Gary Stu?

Is your OC a Mary Sue or Gary Stu? Maybe, maybe not. Have a friend/someone you know evaluate, as you are biased about your character, while they will choose the cold, hard truth. Add up all points at the end.

**Looks:**

1. Description is short (a few sentences), has scars/imperfections

2. Slightly longer (small paragraphs), has small imperfections

3. A paragraph description, has no visible scars or imperfections

**Name:**

1. Not uncommon name for a person, only stating first and last (This sounds racist, but accordingly to race.)

2. Slightly uncommon name for a person, not heard often, stating first and last

3. Uncommon name for a person, stating first, middle(s), and last (ex: Diamond, Nightingale)

**Personality:**

1. Balances out (ex:cheery, can throw big tantrums)

2. More good than bad (ex: happy, selfless, can throw big tantrums)

Number two's example: If weighed out, happy and selfless overshadow tantrums too much

3. Way more good than bad/Nothing to balance out (ex: selfless, kind, loving, grouchy in mornings)

In your personality, it needs to be balanced out. Same amount of good as bad, and have to carry the same weight. (ex: happy, thrown off by death of family member)

**Physical:**

1. Fits story well, though may not be completely in shape, eventually more fit (example: beginning- scrawny, un-muscular, etc. end- more fit, stronger, etc. Don't overdo it!)

2. In shape, keeps improving**  
**

3. Totally fit, always improving, excels average person

Note- Number three does not count if the character has been training professionally for years. Ex: man trained since 23 to 27 with professional help, trained to be athlete/Olympian/spy/assassin/etc. If in that case, choose one.

**Mental:**

At the beginning of the story:

1. Has doubts, hesitant, though has potential

2. Has some hesitance, strong potential

3. Has little doubts, tons of potential to save the world/complete the quest/accomplish goal

**Results **

**7-... _Nope, you're okay!_**

**_8-11... Be careful. Your character is not a Mary Sue, though she/he could very possibly turn into one._**

**_11-15... I'm sorry. Mary-Sue Alert, work harder! _**

__And now the bug spray part. You've taken the test. You've found your results. If you have a 7-, you don't need to read this. Your part ends here. Bye!

Now, for the rest of you, STAY HERE. STAY, STAY, STAY, I've been loving you for quite some time, time, time...

Sorry. I _love _TSwizzle. Anyway, 8+ people, STAY HERE!

Here's our recipe to bug spray.

First, add some imperfections.

For two's, you maybe need to add something, a really minor imperfection. Really minor. Maybe a tiny scar, or a birthmark, or something that will slightly de-flatter your OC. She/He shouldn't be ugly, but she/he shouldn't be completely pretty/handsome, either.

For three's, you need something BIG. Think Luke. He's very attractive, but has a big scar to downgrade him. Doesn't have to be like Luke's, but you need something taken away. Change hair color. Change eye color. Change skin color. Add imperfections. Whatever. But it has to play a major part.

Second, add magnets.

Balance the good out. It's like negatives and positives. Negative. Positive. Think magnets. They have a North Pole and a South Pole.

Third, throw in an old shoebox.

You need something to hold back. Maybe the person's a nerd, not very exercising. If so, that person is NOT a ninja. You see your school geeks running around, disappearing and reappearing, and dodging bullets? Nope. Of course, you should make that person more average. Stay healthy, but not so much that that person has strayed from the original character. Over a long course of time, yes, but that's different.

Fourth, add in the inner turmoil.

Add problems. Throw in a wrench in your fic. Add something devastating- a death, nightmares, persuading voices, traumatizing situation, guilt, whatever.

Last, name it.

CHANGE YOUR NAME SO IT'S NOT SHIMMERING DIAMOND OR WHATEVER. PICK A COMMON FIRST NAME, MAYBE UNUSUAL NICKNAME, AND AN UNCOMMON LAST NAME.

BOOM.

So that's all!

Remember- Seven Plots, Cupcakes, Practice, Junk Write, & Publish, and Mary Sue's, Gary Stu's, OC's, and Bug Spray!

Review.

I love reviews.

**Oh yeah, if you guys are doubting, or if you have any problems or questions, or you want me to check out your story and tell you the truth, and not lies, then feel free to leave a message in the reviews below, or PM me!**

_Achieving Elysium _


	5. Grammar Gum

**Writing a Percy Jackson Fanfic**

**Chapter 5**

**Gum**

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We all chew gum, right? That was a rhetorical question, which was really stupid. Because of course we chew gum, unless you have braces. (I chew gum with braces on anyway.)

That was like asking if the people reading this write stories. _Of course _you write stories, or else why would you be reading something about writing?

So you came here when I updated, and you are all probably wondering,"Why gum?"

Gum makes a good metaphor.

I realized I hadn't made anymore fun stuff, so this is a spin-off attempt to make it more exciting.

In this chapter, our lovely gum will be the antagonist. The bad guy. And you readers will be those kids who did something wrong, gained a detention, and sent to scrape gum off the bottom of tables. Sorry. And I? I, readers, am the strict teacher.

Wait, scratch that. The something wrong that you did was chew gum and stick it under the table.

So, me, being the teacher, saw you stick gum underneath the table and wrote you a detention slip.

In writing, the gum stands for grammar. Let's call it Grammar Gum. The situation is that someone in your class passed out the grammar gum. Some of you didn't like the taste, se you spat it out. Some of you liked the taste, and dunked it nicely into the trash can where it belongs after you've chewed it millions of times.

The desk is your story.

The gum is your grammar.

The students who liked it are the people who use proper grammar.

The students who stuck it under a table are the people who use improper grammar.

Now, everyone knows that if you stick gum somewhere and let it dry up, it's all disgusting and yucky. No one likes dried up gum with dried up spit. No one likes bad grammar. Easy peasy.

**Grammar**

**Punctuation**

This one? Easy! Put a period, **...** , question mark, **? **, or exclamation mark, **! **, at the end of a sentence.

**Dialogue**

Oh my gods. Dialogue._ WHY DOESN'T ANYONE KNOW HOW TO PUNCTUATE DIALOGUE? _

_Here is how you do it. _

1. When putting the speaker first, put a comma before quotations.

Ex: Sally said**, **"So, you're Poseidon?"

2. When putting the speaker after, put a comma before quotations.

Ex: "Yep. I'm Poseidon, god of the seas and all that**,**" he said.

3. When putting a question mark or exclamation, the comma is not needed. (Applies to Rule #2 only!)

Ex: "I'm dating a god. What has the world come to?" Sally sighed.

4. There is no need for a punctuation mark after the quotations. You only put it under quotes.

Ex: The god replied, "I'm dating a mortal. I'm married, swore an oath, and here I am. What _has _the world come to?"

5. When interrupting the quotes with something, use commas.

Ex: "I really don't know**,**" Sally sighed**,** "I really don't know."

Look, I even bolded all commas for you!

**Spelling**

You have a spell-check. Make sure you use it.

It's there for a reason.

It's not like you're going to say, "Oh, let's not use this tool that will help me. My brain is smart enough even though I have misspelled every word and there are red squiggly lines symbolizing I spelled it wrong. Let's publish it!"

No. Just no.

Technology+Words= USE THE DANG THING ALREADY!

So remember guys, use proper grammar. Don't let your story become overrun with sticky, disgusting, yucky, spit-covered, annoying gum. Because afterwards, you're going to have to scrape it off.

**PS: I won't be updating in a ****_long _****time. I'm working on this one-shot I have tons of ideas for, and it's also for the Back-Story Challenge in the Percy Jackson Fanfiction Challenges forum. I'm trying for 5k+ words.**

**Here's a sneak peek of my upcoming ****_Lune de Clair_**

She carried the girl, Piper, her boots making soft crunching sounds in the snow.

"You," she said, "Protector. Hold her."

She shoved Piper in the satyr's direction and pulled out the tent. It was roughly the size of a pack of gum, but it could extend into a full-size, five-star (pillows and all) tent. Tugging at a small tab at the top, she opened it to full size. Moving quickly, she managed to set it up (pillows, hot chocolate, carpets, etc.) in about 3 minutes.

"In here," she said gruffly. The goat would be a problem.

As the man-goat set Piper gently down on the pillows, she was reminded of another time, when there had been another young girl she'd carried. The Fates were cruel to remind her of her sister, Tali's young, innocent face, with brown hair and blue eyes. Turning away, she stirred the hot chocolate in the cup and cranked up the heater. _Tali... _She chided herself, _Now is not the time to think about the past. Help this young maiden first. _

She handed hot chocolate to the shivering girl, sighing wearily at the person. She walked outside to wait. Piper would not help her. The girl so much like her dead sister would only hurt her more than Lycaon had.

...

_Achieving Elysium_


	6. Turning Off the Mute Button

**Chapter Six: Turning Off the Mute-Voice **

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**Achieving Elysium**

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Hi, welcome back! I guess that goes for both of us. I haven't written because of vacation, and you haven't been seeing me lately. I'm writing this on a plane. That's right. On a plane. Not a car, boat, or train. Hey, that rhymes! (See how off topic I get?) Right now, I am about a hour away from home. I'm ecstatic, fully rested, and bored out of my mind. I'll be home around 4:24 in Texas time, which really sucks. Today, (and for the rest of this guide...) I will be teaching you (No, duh. What else would I be doing, telling you my life story? No thanks!) how to turn off the mute button.

Yes.

I said _the _mute button.

That would be great if we had one to work of people. No shut up? I will press your mute button. Unfortunately, that is not happening.

Wait a second.

I will be telling you the teeniest part of my life story. So small, you won't even think it's part of my life story.

I just realized my sarcastic comment was turned back on me by myself. Darn.

Yum, I just had pizza. Anyway, what I'm asking you to do right now is to turn off your (literal. I hope you didn't take it seriously.) mute button. Now, some of y'all will think that that's easy, yes?

**WRONG.**

It's so simple, to grab your internal remote, turn off mute, and find a good writing voice. It's not quite that easy.

Oh. Right. In case you did not know:

_Writer's Voice._

_From Wikipedia, the article._

_The __**writer's voice **__is the __**individual writing style of an author. **__Voice can be thought of in terms of the uniqueness of a vocal voice machine. As a trumpet has a different voice than a tuba or a violin has a different voice than a cello, so the words of one author have a different sound than the words of another. One author may have a voice that is light and fast paced while another may have a dark voice._

_[end.] _

Okay. Just in case.

Some authors don't have a specific writing style. They're the ones "on mute." They're the people who find something enjoyable to write, and that's it. Sure, it might be a good story, but it has no voice-it doesn't scream,"This is my writing style, my aesthetic, **ME.**" Your writing style is unique to you, even if you share an aesthetic with someone else. With voice, you can write a story that will stand out.

One major problem in turning mute off is that some people don't _know _they're on mute. To turn it off, you have to know what makes you _you _when you write.

Answer these questions in the reviews. You don't have to, but to have it there in writing might make you more confident-and it'll make me happy, too.

**1. Why do **you** think your writing is unique?**

**2. What kind of writing do you write? (Dark, fluff, angst, killjoy, cheery, unicorns-and-rainbows-over-the-top? [I hope not.])**

**3. What is your writing aesthetic, your reason you write the way you do? (Refer to No. 2)**

**4. ****_Why _****do you write?**

**5. What kind of audience are you targeting for?**

To make everything clear, and to give an example, I'll answer those.

1. I think my writing is unique because I write in such a way that will capture readers and bring something new to FF, in a darker style with different characters as well as old friends. I want to catch people at the peak- snag them until they really get me. (Remember Chapter 2 or whatever I wrote this in. You want to get people to go through the same emotions as the character, but don't make it so real that when the character is hit by a car, the reader falls over screaming bloody murder about how they were hit by a car. Walmart does not just sell out a Mr. D for you to take home so you can cure your readers, mind you. )

2. For most fictions, I write more angst. I do have the occasional fluff, happiness ensured stuff, but I tend to have a more darker voice. No, I am not depressed.

3. Well, I like to write in a matter so that we can relate to the characters, real or not. Everyone in the world has experienced darkness one way or another. I give them grief, sorrow, loss, pain, sadness- all which we have experienced or will experience. Demigods are half-god, what makes them heroes, but they are still half-mortal, and not invincible. I take the heroes, and I make them human. I put in the part we can relate to, adding it to their world. I stretch humanity over co-existing worlds and connect them, showing that everyone is human, in many ways more than one.

4. I write to create my own world-some shaped after me, so I as well as readers can experience things they could never do in real life. I shape heroes that make choices that I couldn't ever do. Writing makes me happy.

5. I target a more teenage+ audience. I don't write as mature as lemons, but I want to try and make it appropriate for ages 11+ because kids won't understand as well. (WaPJOF is open to all ages, though.)

Don't be afraid to tell me what you think. I won't judge you even if you write like you're on a sugar high half the time. Be confident. Say what you think, because we are all biased to like our own writings. Know that all stories have potential.

Know this. Even the shortest of fictions come from _something. _Stop doubting yourself. Find your voice, and turn off the mute button.

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Any questions about me or my writing? Ask. I will post it on the blog on my bio. Need help? Don't hesitate to drop a review or a PM, and I'll get there ASAP.

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_Achieving Elysium_


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